1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sample chip analyzing device and a method for analyzing the sample chip that analyzes gene generating modes of cells and biological tissues and analyzes antigen and antibody reactions.
2. Themes to be Solved by the Invention
In the abovementioned use, a sample chip has been used, in which various types of sample probes such as polynucleotide and protein peptide probes like a DNA probe, an RNA probe, etc., are dot-arrayed and fixed on a glass sheet slide at high density (several tens through seven ten thousands pieces per square centimeter).
For example, in the work of analyzing gene generating modes, a test sample to be analyzed, which is extracted from cells and biological tissues, adjusted, and marked with a fluorescent substance, is adhered to respective sampling probes on a sample chip. Where the sampling probe and the test sample to be analyzed are complementary to each other, they are coupled to each other. To the contrary, where they are not complementary to each other, they are not coupled.
After the sample to be analyzed, which has not been coupled to the sampling probe, is washed off by a buffer solution, the surface of the sample chip is optically scanned, and fluorescence from the marked fluorescent substances is detected to specify the sample to be analyzed, by the sampling probe to which the sample to be analyzed is coupled.
When optically scanning the sample chip, light of an appointed beam diameter is irradiated thereto from a light source, and at the same time an objective lens, which receives light from a sample chip, and the sample chip are caused to move relative to each other in order to scan the entirety thereof, whereby the marked fluorescent substances of the hybridized sample to be analyzed are pumped.
In the abovementioned method, since reflected pumping light of the fluorescent substance is received together with the fluorescence from the fluorescent substance, it is necessary to provide an optical filter to distinguish the fluorescence from the pumping light. However, since the reflected pumping light is remarkably intense in comparison with the fluorescence, the fluorescence detection is likely to be influenced by the pumping light, wherein the fluorescence detection accuracy was not satisfactory.
Although it is necessary to widen the light receptive area by increasing the diameter of the objective lens to efficiently receive the fluorescence pumped or excited by the fluorescent substance, a light irradiating apparatus became large in size.
Further, in order to raise the detection accuracy of fluorescence by suppressing disturbance light (noise), it is necessary to approach the objective lens to the sample chip. But, there is a limitation in the approaching distance due to the physical properties of the objective lens, wherein the fluorescence could not be detected at high accuracy.
The present invention was developed to solve the abovementioned problems and shortcomings in the prior art. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a sample chip analyzing device and a method for analyzing the sample chip, which are capable of detecting, at high accuracy, fluorescence from marked fluorescent substances of a sample to be analyzed, which have been coupled to a sampling probe, without being influenced by pumping light of the fluorescent substance and disturbance light (noise), and efficiently analyzing the sample to be analyzed.
In addition, it is another object of the invention to provide a sample chip analyzing device and a method for analyzing the sample chip, which are capable of detecting fluorescence of different wavelengths at one time and efficiently analyzing the sample to be analyzed.